I have this long love affair with Winona Ryder since Beetlejuice. My feelings have not diminished since then. I have watched all of her movies and this is the main reason why I saw Stay Cool. It is about Henry (Mark Polish), a writer who returns to his hometown to deliver a commencement address to the graduating class of his alma mater, and his undying obsession for Scarlet (Winona Ryder).
Henry’s timing is good because Scarlet is now separated from her husband Brad Nelson (Marc Blucas), the obnoxious gym teacher. To make things complicated, Shasta (Hillary Duff), the 17 year old daughter of his classmates, has a crush on him.
Nobody in his hometown has ever read his book, How Lionel Got Him Laid. And if they did then they could have known that it is not a work of fiction but an autobiography. It is about him and the people around him. Then they could have seen that his intention of going back is not to speak to the graduates but to speak to the one.
Good thing he has his crazy friends helping him along the way. There’s the tattoo artist Wino (Josh Holloway) and the gay hairdresser Big Girl (Sean Astin). But then again, he also managed to screw up their friendship.
The true star of Stay Cool is Winona Ryder. I know you might think I’m just being biased but she did make the movie better with her presence. Without her, it’s just another dull movie about high school. I find Mark Polish’s performance to be lackluster.
I don’t like the ending though. All this time Henry is pursuing the girl of his dream and when he managed to sleep with her, he leaves town. I don’t know what the Polish brothers wanted to convey. Was it all about sex? Why did they end it with an anticlimactic goodbye? Maybe they really left it hanging so that the audience can make their own endings for the movie.
Shasta O’Neil (Hillary Duff): You can say yes now, and you can always say no later. But if you say no now, then you’ll never ever have a chance to say yes.
Stay Cool is a light comedy that tackled the what-ifs in life. Not everyone is as lucky as Henry, who has the chance to work on the questions left unanswered after he left town. Do you have any hang-ups in life that you can’t let go?
